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< Piro >

Well, as you can see, i DID produce that little drawing of Dominobi for dom's little SGD hell for monday - to ease the pain a little... just a little. I've put the full size version of the image over on fredart for all to view.

Just a quick update today, there's quite a few things going on. First off, the book is going along pretty well. First thing i should probably do is point out that Ironcat Studios has changed its name to I.C. Entertainment (they should have thier new website up and read in a few days) - Secondly, they seem pretty happy with the graphic files i've prepared for them, which makes me feel good. It was a lot of work, and the quality of the original graphics has a major effect on the quality of the printing.

The cover art is going well too, even though it is taking me twice as long as i had originally planned (doesn't it always? i blame 'FredTime') I've had a little help with the image from Merekat (you know, the gal who did such a bang up job on the 'Pirogoeth' and 'Megatokyo Memorial' images.) While i have improved quite a bit in certain areas, i still have some problems with hands and anatomy that i asked her to help me tweak so that it wouldn't look odd on the cover. After going over what seemed odd and out of place, and looking at the structure of things, as well as what i could do to correct it, i've fixed some things that really help improve the look of the cover - largo's hands in particular. I learned a lot doing it, and as stubborn as i am about learning things sometimes, it's good to question your work in ways that lead to it's improvement. She's also giving me some pointers on shading, which all should result in a much better image, and a little increase in my own skill level in doin this stuff.

Oh, and if you are fans of Merekat's work, she now has posters available for purchase. Go check them out, mere has really produced some impressive work. Will there be more pieces like Pirogoeth done in the future? Yes, there will be - Merekat and i are talking about some projects we'll probably have underway early next year.

I still have tons to do on the book, but i've decided that it's time to take the comic itself off of it's accidental hiatus (last three weeks, there has been far more DPD and SGD than real comics). Thank you all for your patience with this, but things are ready to start flying again. I'll have more updates for tomorrow.

< Dom >

Quick note: Clannad is the name of a game. It is also the name of a band. I am referring to the game. Click the link.

Yes, the Giants lost the World Series. I'm going to curl up and mutter the names Felix Rodriguez and Dennis Eckersley for a few hours to remind myself that I will never, ever trust relief pitchers.

In other news, yes, ninja vs. schoolgirl! While I am quite aware of the sub-genres "schoolgirl ninja" or "girl in ninja school", this battle has defined much male gaming for the past decade. Are you Shinobi, who defines himself with a scarf as red as the blood he spills? Or are you Okazaki Tomoya, whose purpose in his digital life is to put the moves on a set of very small, very sad girls?

It's a matter of what your fantasy life plays out as-heroically or romantically, I guess. Which is part of why people like romance plots in their RPGs. Once suspension of disbelief is in place and people place themselves in the role of the hero-or the heroine, as the case may be-then you can imagine that you're saving the world _and_ getting the girl/guy/alien/robot-with-compatible-"equipment".

Well, okay, the other reason is probably that RPGs tend to be boring without any sort of major romance to promote character growth. Wild Arms 1 excepted, though there were a few threads of a romance in there.

Fred and I actually haven't talked about this much, so it's not really an issue. But it's funny to kick around the idea once in a while when he plays AIR and weeps like a candyless child on Halloween, while I poke people in the feet with Raphael, the only Soul Calibur character who has a shirt on. Yes, I admit that I play what the above SGD termed "wussy games" from time to time, but with a very specific purpose. I played Tokimeki Memorial 2 because in one of the storylines, you have to beat up hordes upon hordes of delinquents and their bosses. So the game consisted of pretty much kendo club, rest, take girl on a date to a location to where a fight will take place, kick ass, repeat. It's the same way in some ways with Bistro Cupid... and Comic Party was a special case because it's the funniest damn game I've played since Tondemo Crisis.

In other news, I just played through one game of Bistro Cupid. Next, I'm going to train the princess ninja schoolgirl (hey, I didn't design the characters) to become the greatest warrior chef in all the land! I haven't had such fun with such a weird game since I raised a warrior queen in Princess Maker. Kill, blood of my blood... wipe evil from this land!

Oh. And I saw Adaptation the other day. I can't describe it in anything less than "fucking best irony I've seen in years". A lot of people just plain didn't get it, but fuck them. It was a great movie, and if you don't get the joke it's your own fault for missing the blatancy of it all.